Cross-slope variations of dissolved organic carbon in the Gulf of Cadiz, NE Atlantic Ocean (February 1998)

• Published in: Marine Ecology Progress Series
• Main Authors: Dafner, Ev, Sempere, Richard, González, N, Gomez, F., Goutx, M.
• Other Authors: Institut méditerranéen d'océanologie (MIO), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Toulon (UTLN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187 (LOG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Nord ), Laboratoire de MicrobiologiE de Géochimie et d'Ecologie Marines (LMGEM), Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille 2-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 1999
• Subjects: [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02063121; https://hal.science/hal-02063121/document; https://hal.science/hal-02063121/file/Dafner-et%20al-MEPS.1999.-HAL.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3354/meps189301

International audience Our observations at a traverse of Cadiz in February 1998 indicated dissolved organic carbon (DOC)con- centrations ranging from 61 to 89 uM C within the Spanish Shelf Water, from 48 to 64 uM C within the North Atlantic Surface Water, and from 49 to 55 uM C within the North Atlantic Central Water. Moreover, according to temperature and salin- ity data, the shallow core of the Mediterranean outflow was also identified deeper than 350 m depth with DOC concentrations between 52 and 58 uM C. The data suggest that DOC distribution at the traverse of the Gulf of Cadiz was controlled by outputs of degraded particles transported within along- slope descending shelf waters and also by features of the cir- culation in the Gulf of Cadiz. An estimate of organic carbon transport suggests that ca 1.34 to 2.68 X 102m01 C S-' were transported within the shallow core of Mediterranean outflow. This amount of DOC was 2 orders of magnitude less than that calculated within the Mediterranean outflow in the Strait of Gibraltar for the summer and autumn seasons. These processes might partly regulate the biogeochemistry of the shallow core of the Mediterranean outflow along the Iberian coast.